Still
Laughing, She Said, "That Will Do; You Look Beautiful; Now Go
Away Home"; And Off We Trotted, The Elder Sobbing Bitterly, The
Younger Laughing.
As soon as we reached home, my first inquiry was concerning their
histories, of which they appeared to know but very little.
The
elder, whom I named Meri (plantains), was obtained by Sunna, the
late king, as a wife, from Nkole; and though she was a mere
Kahala, or girl, when the old king died, he was so attached to
her he gave her twenty cows, in order that she might fatten up on
milk after her native fashion; but on Sunna's death, when the
establishment of women was divided, Meri fell to N'yamasore's
(the queen's) lot. The lesser one, who still retains the name of
Kahala, said she was seized in Unyoro by the Waganda, who took
her to N'yamasore, but what became of her father and mother she
could not say.
It was now dinner-time, and as the usual sweet potatoes and
goat's flesh were put upon my box-table, I asked them to dine
with me, and we became great friends, for they were assured they
would finally get good houses and gardens at Zanzibar; but
nothing would induce either of them to touch food that had been
cooked with butter. A dish of plantains and goat-flesh was then
prepared; but though Kahala wished to eat it, Meri rejected the
goat's flesh, and would not allow Kahala to taste it either; and
thus began a series of domestic difficulties.
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